Diagnosing and treating lower limb lameness in horses has improved significantly in the last 25 years with advancements in diagnostic equipment that now provides clear images of both hard and soft tissue. Digital Radiographs, sonograms, and MRI technologies are the tools commonly used in diagnosing the causes of lameness and associated physiological changes or anomalies. Notwithstanding the availability of these technologies, the procedures for diagnosing lameness in a horse are very time consuming and therefore expensive. Diagnostic nerve blocks are commonly used to locate a region of pain and once the general area of pain is located, the MRI, ultrasound, and radiograph technologies may be used to assist in completing the diagnosis and planning treatment. However, even after such expansive testing there is often speculation as to the exact structures that may be affecting the condition. There is no way of knowing if physiological changes or anomalies seen through the various diagnostic results are the actual cause of the lameness or are merely non-painful chronic lesions. Accordingly, it is difficult to prescribe treatment for a lameness that is assumed in a general area with no assurance that the clinical findings are acute or chronic at the time of the exam.
Treatment prescriptions for these lameness issues vary considerably from one practitioner to another. The inconsistencies in prescriptions and the results of treatment are largely due to the fact that the foregoing mentioned diagnostic methods and equipment cannot satisfactorily measure or quantify pain.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method for precisely locating the affected structures of the hoof or leg of a horse exhibiting lameness or similar pathology and to improve the ability to pin point a diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method which can localize pain in a particular physiological structure of a horse's hoof or leg.
A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus that will implement the novel diagnostic method disclosed.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent on a reading of the following descriptions of the invention, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.